Well, there has been quite a bit of controversy surrounding Ellison’s future swearing in to his Congressional position on the Koran!! In fact, this is my second article on this subject.

There are those that say, “let him”, “who cares”, “freedom of religion”, blah, blah, blah….

Well to me, this is NOT a freedom of religion issue!! No one will be stopping him from bringing in his “prayer rug” and “praying toward Mecca” 5 times a day, by the way, in a TAXPAYER PAID OFFICE!!! Although I personally am uncomfortable with that, not allowing him to pray as he sees fit would be a freedom of religion issue! And, as a citizen of the United States and a taxpayer, it is my obligation to support our elected officials with my tax dollars regardless of whether I support their religious beliefs!

There are then the arguments that state this is a “religious test” which is also against Article VI of the Constitution. I say this is ALSO incorrect!!

Article VI of the Constitution states: “…no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.” It seems like everyone is just seeing the words “no religious test” and NOT reading the rest of the sentence!!

As we can see, the fact that Ellison is a Muslim was NOT held against him whatsoever!! He was apparently qualified to run, did run, and was ulitmately elected by the 5th District of Minnesota (despite his apparent lack of ethics!)! Therefore, Article VI of the Constitution was upheld as we can all clearly see!!

Others “joke” about taking an oath on a cookbook, their plasma tv, etc, etc….

Well my friends, I personally, do not see this as a joking matter! For an elected office to take an oath to protect our country, its people, its Constitution, and who has the lives of our military men and women in their hands should be taken with grave seriousness!!

Our great nation is made up, not only of laws, but of traditions and values that, if we do not protect, will only serve to weaken the sovereignty of our Country even more!!

Considering the majority of the terrorists are of the Islamic “faith” (FACT), base their faith on the Koran, state their “faith and their book” claims they are to “kill the infidels” (which we have witnessed through the suicide bombers, the beheadings, etc), state they “hate America and all western ideals”……for an elected official of OUR COUNTRY to take on oath on a “book” that is totally against our country and what we, as Americans stand for, but yet promising to uphold our Constitution and its laws, is, not only an oxymoron, but would be a SLAP IN THE FACE to our nation and the American people!!

Recently elected to fill the vacancy that is being left by Martin Sabo, who is retiring after his 28 years in Congress, is Democrat Keith Ellison who will be representing Minnesota’s 5th District, when he is sworn in January 2007.

Mr. Ellison will make history as the first Muslim to ever sit in Congress. So…what is the problem some people ask???

Well, other than Mr. Ellison’s stellar records as a “citizen” and state representative, by having his drivers license suspended (he couldn’t remember how many times) due to failure to pay multiple fines and traffic tickets, to the IRS putting a lien on his home for late and back taxes between 1992 and 2000 (which was later paid in excess of $18,000) to his campaign finance violations and misinformation (from the soon to be “cleanest congress in history)…….what other problems could there be??

First off, Mr. Ellison totally downplayed his Muslim faith, never bringing it to the forefront and only mentioned it briefly when asked a specific question. Call me whatever you wish, but in these pre 9/11 days, when all over the world Muslim terrorists are shouting “Death to America”, “kill the infidels”, etc..I feel this IS an issue!!

Mr. Ellison received funds and support from CAIR (Council for American-Islamic Relations) who IS known for post 9/11 ties to terrorism and in which many of the CAIR officials were convicted of, or pled guilty to, support of Islamic terrorists!! Mr. Ellison was then to appear at CAIR’s banquet as a guest speaker, but apparently, back-peddled out of it!

Mr. Ellison appears to have been less than honest in his dealing with the Nation of Islam and and in his “disagreeable” dealings..for example:

At a rally for the Million Man March held at the University of Minnesota, Ellison appeared onstage with Khalid Abdul Muhammad, who ran true to form: According to a contemporaneous Star Tribune article, “If words were swords, the chests of Jews, gays and whites would be pierced.”

In a November 6, 1995, column for the Minneapolis periodical Insight News, Ellison wrote under the name “Keith X Ellison.” He condemned a Star Tribune editorial cartoon that was critical of Farrakhan as a role model for blacks because of his anti-Semitism. Ellison argued to the contrary.

Then, in February 1997, Ellison appeared as a local spokesman for the Nation of Islam with the last name “Muhammad.” ….published in the Minneapolis Spokesman-Recorder, Elli son said:

We stand by the truth contained in the remarks attributed to [Ms. Jackson]……..Ellison’s May 28 letter acknowledges only that others supported Jackson’s alleged statement in that controversy while falsely denying that he himself did so.

…in 1998, when he ran for the DFL nomination for state representative as “Keith Ellison-Muhammad.” In a contemporaneous article on his candidacy in the Insight News, Ellison is reported still defending Louis Farrakhan.

Ellison says now that he broke with the Nation of Islam when “it became clear to me that their message of empowerment intertwined with more negative messages.” However, Ellison himself was the purveyor of the Nation of Islam’s noxious party line in his every public utterance touching on related issues over the course of a decade. Moreover, Ellison’s unsavory associations were not limited to the Nation of Islam.

Perhaps the lowest moment in Minneapolis’s history was the September 1992 execution-style murder of police officer Jerry Haaf. Haaf was shot in the back as he took a coffee break at a restaurant in south Minneapolis. The murder was a gang hit performed by four members of the city’s Vice Lords gang. The leader of the Vice Lords was Sharif Willis, a convicted murderer who had been released from prison and who sought respectability as a responsible gang leader from gullible municipal authorities while operating a gang front called United for Peace.

Within a month of Haaf’s murder, Ellison appeared with Willis supporting the United for Peace gang front. In October 1992, Ellison helped organize a demonstration against Minneapolis police that included United for Peace.

Ellison publicly supported the Haaf murder defendants. In February 1993, he spoke at a demonstration for one of them during his trial. Ellison led the crowd assembled at the courthouse in a chant that was ominous in the context of Haaf’s cold-blooded murder: “We don’t get no justice, you don’t get no peace.”

The various themes of Ellison’s public commitments and associations all came together in a February 2000 speech he gave at a fundraising event sponsored by the Minnesota chapter of the far-left National Lawyers Guild, on whose steering committee he had served. The event was a fundraiser for former Symbionese Liberation Army member Kathleen Soliah after her apprehension in St. Paul (under the name “Sara Jane Olson”) for the attempted murder of Los Angeles police officers in 1975.

Ellison weirdly referred to Soliah/ Olson as a “black gang member” (she is white) and thus a victim of government persecution. ….He also spoke favorably of cop killers Mumia Abu-Jamal and Assata Shakur. (Shakur has been on the lam in Cuba since 1984; last year she was placed on the FBI’s domestic terrorists list with a one million dollar reward for her capture.)

After THAT background, we now have Mr. Ellison stating that he will not take his oath of office on the Bible, but on the Koran!!

I’m sorry, but does that not make anyone nervous whatsoever!!?? We have Islamic terrorist spouting the Koran and yelling “Allah Akbar” before blowing people up, beheading people, etc!! Now, I am NOT SAYING that Ellison is or has condonned those types of actions, BUT, with the “ties” to CAIR and the Nation of Islam I am a bit more cautious!

Also, I do NOT believe that the oath of office to protect this country should be taken except on the Bible…the Koran is unacceptable!! This is AMERICA and Ellison is swearing to PROTECT THIS COUNTRY…NOT Islam! It does make one wonder what side would he be on if it came down to “brass tacks”!!!

Devotees of multiculturalism and political correctness who do not see how damaging to the fabric of American civilization it is to allow Ellison to choose his own book need only imagine a racist elected to Congress. Would they allow him to choose Hitler’s “Mein Kampf,” the Nazis’ bible, for his oath? And if not, why not? On what grounds will those defending Ellison’s right to choose his favorite book deny that same right to a racist who is elected to public office?

…But for all of American history, Jews elected to public office have taken their oath on the Bible, even though they do not believe in the New Testament, and the many secular elected officials have not believed in the Old Testament either. …. Nor has one Mormon official demanded to put his hand on the Book of Mormon. And it is hard to imagine a scientologist being allowed to take his oath of office on a copy of “Dianetics” by L. Ron Hubbard.

When all elected officials take their oaths of office with their hands on the very same book, they all affirm that some unifying value system underlies American civilization. If Keith Ellison is allowed to change that, he will be doing more damage to the unity of America and to the value system that has formed this country than the terrorists of 9-11.

When does political correctness end? This is America, and although we are made up of many cultures and backgrounds, we are to come together as ONE NATION if our country is to survive!!!

Just when you thought everyone would calm down the rhetoric and enjoy the holidays…….Rangel, once again, has shoved his foot in this mouth regarding our brave military men and women!!

Can’t your just see him and Kerry, holding hands and dancing into the moonlight, whirling and twirling with each other, giggling and singing, as their “hate the military” ideas are broadcast over the airwaves, and unfortunately, are heard by those fighting for our country!! What a shameful disgrace they are!!!!

In an interview with Chris Wallace, Fox News Sunday, Rangel was asked about his reintroduction of a “draft bill” due to another recent statement he made:

The great majority of people bearing arms in this country, for this country in Iraq, are from the poorer communities in our inner cities and rural areas.

Chris Wallace debunked Rangel’s claims with research from the Heritage Foundation and then asked Rangel the following:

…Congressman, in fact, contrary to what you’ve been saying, isn’t the volunteer army better educated and more well-to-do than the general population?

Rangel, in his typical “hate the uneducated, unprofessional, poor, and stupid” military answered:

Of course not. ….. I want to make it abundantly clear, if there’s anyone who believes that these youngsters want to fight, as the Pentagon and some generals have said, you can just forget about it. No young, bright individual wants to fight just because of a bonus and just because of educational benefits. And most all of them come from communities of very, very high unemployment.

If a young fellow has an option of having a decent career or joining the Army to fight in Iraq, you can bet your life that he would not be in Iraq.

……those who have the least opportunities at this age find themselves in the military, as I did when I was 18 years old.

First, Rangel must be forgetting that he is 76 years old and in 1948 when he served (58 years ago!!!) a whole hell of alot of things were different in this country and this world!!! I also don’t see him THANKING the military, as without them HE most likely would not have gotten the education HE did!!! It seems like he cannot get himself out of the past, and continues to play the “I was a poor boy and joined the Army because I had nothing else” attitude!!

In fact, he did an interview in 1997 with Foundation News and Commentary on education, that was published in 1998 (he must have forgotten what he said then) in which Rangel stated regarding his own upbringing:

…..if kids aren’t nurtured by caring parents and teachers. His own experience involved growing up in a single-parent household in pre-civil-rights-era Harlem. He dropped of school at age 17. He joined the Army. He went back to school at age 23 to earn a GED degree, a college degree (from New York University) and a law degree (from St. John’s University School of Law). Says Rangel now, “I owe my life to God and the GI bill.”

So….just because HE was uneducated and joined the Army, he seems to think that, 58 years later, ALL our military men and women must be poor, uneducated and stupid! He seems to have so much anger in him because of his life that he also forgets that had it NOT been for the Army, he might very well have ended up in jail or worse…….instead of freely running around spewing his garbage!!!

Charlie, instead of disparaging our troops, why don’t you find it in your heart to take a different approach….THANK them for their wonderful service and their sacrifices, thank the military for YOUR life “off the streets”, and try to be an example to young, black men and women (some whom may not have the advantages YOU now do thanks to the military)!! This would be a much better approach than the scare tatics and hate you spew forth…you are an embarrasement to this country, our military and your party!!!

Well, it’s that time of year…people go back and forth due to some idiotic “pc” crap……is it “Merry Christmas”, “Happy Holidays”, “Happy Winter Holiday”…or what????

It is CHRISTMAS…and if people don’t like it, I frankly, do not care!! I am tired of all the political correctness floating around due to the MINORITY saying “they are offended”!! THEY offend me by being offended by Christmas so where are my rights and the rights of the majority of other Americans?

GOOD NEWS…….

It looks like many retailers have faced the “wrath of the people” and will be putting Christmas back into the season!! Three cheers for them!!!

Walmart has announced that they will be wishing their customers “Merry Christmas” and will have “Christmas trees” and Christmas everywhere!

Other stores like Kohl’s Corporation, Walgreens Co., and Federated Department Stores (Macey’s and Bloomingdales) are joining in the Christmas spirit!!

Target has also stopped “snubbing” the Salvation Army and has announced a “Multi-faceted Christmas Partnership with the Salvation Army” by launching an Angel Giving Tree (an on-line version of the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree Program), and also donating 100% proceeds from the sale of a Limited Edition Harvey Lewis angel ornament. To read more please go to Target’s News Release.

I know there are other stores that have decided to bring back Christmas and if we are unable to shop there for one reason or another, let’s make sure to at least drop them an e-mail to say “thank you” and show our support for their decision to bring CHRISTMAS back to the forefront of the season!!

Well, Thanksgiving is now behind us which means Christmas is right around the corner!!

Did you make it through Black Friday? I did…I stayed in the comfort of my home surrounded by my “babies” (4-legged critters), and my husband and I just relaxed and enjoyed the day! I think to myself, who in their right mind would want to get out the Friday after Thanksgiving amidst all the pushing, shoving, and grabbing…and for what? There is not one single thing that I can think of I would be willing to either get up at 2 am or “camp out” all night in front of a store for…..but apparently many people have that “itch” they must scratch!! And retailers count on the “itch” to start their Christmas season off with a bang! To all you Black Friday shoppers, hope you had a great time and made it home with no bruises on anything but your nerves! 🙂

As we begin this Christmas season, amid all the tree trimming, lights, laughter, egg nog, family and friends, let us not forget a few things…

One: Remember the “Reason for the Season”…our country was based on Christian principals and although there are those that are attempting to deny our rights to say CHRISTMAS, to deny our right to have the Nativity Scene displayed anywhere, to do away with any references to God or His Son, Jesus, WE MUST NOT and WE MUST REMEMBER!!

Second: Remember our TROOPS..the brave men and women who are away from home fighting for our continued safety and freedoms! Remember their sacrifices and those that have sacrificed before them, for without these brave soldiers our country would not be the great Nation that it is!!

In support of our troops, please visit Wake Up Americaand send a “thank you” to our soldiers overseas!!

Do not let the political wranglings of the “war haters” and “military haters” deter our determination and resolve to let our troops know they are appreciated!!

Okay, I’ll admit it…I must be one of the only people in America that was not a “Seinfeld” fan! Just wasn’t my “cup of tea” and I could take it or leave it….never felt I had to rush home and take my phone off of the hook because Seinfeld was on and I didn’t want to be disturbed!

So, since 1998 we have had the Seinfeld reruns….ohh yahoo! But what about Michael Richards…better known as “Kramer” since that time? You would think with such a “hit series” and his infamous role he would be doing well…right!? Wrong….

So now we are to “current day” where he was doing a stand up comedy routine at the “Laugh Factor” in California. Okay, he was “heckled” from the audience with comments like “you are not funny”….! Was that wrong, well, technichally, in my opinion, if you do not like an act you just get up and leave..but that is not what happened! BUT, because of that, did he have any right to unleash such horrible rants that the audience began getting up and leaving…then himself “storming off stage” without so much as a look back?

Although I am sick to death of “pc” this and “pc” that….his remarks and comments were way over the line…very rude and crude!! Should his apology (most likely due to pressure from Seinfeld himself) be accepted? Not so fast, I say!! Sometimes we have to realize that there are consequences to our actions and must suffer those consequences!!

He says he is not a racist………….but in a moment of blind rage when all senses seem to fail you…it appears what spouts out of your mouth, with no hesitation, is clearly how you feel deep down!! And he didn’t just spout a comment or two..then regain his composure and apologize immediately, he went on his rant for TWO solid minutes, which is quite a long time in the scheme of what he was doing!! In fact, enough time for the audience to be revolted by his actions and begin leaving!!

So, will Richards suffer any consequences….I believe he will, and rightly so! I think that producers will have a “hands off” approach to him as these remarks will not be easily forgiven or forgotten by the general public…and people will boycott anything he will be in! Remember the infamous Dixie Chicks…????

Richards is also slated to be the voice of “Ace” in an upcoming animation called “Cat Tale” which is currently in pre-production for release in 2008. Will they keep him now? We will watch and see!

My big question is WHY do these “celebrities” think it is okay to rant/rave on stage as their “platform” when they get pissed off? We had the Dixie Chicks, Barbara Streisand, etc! Who in the hell do they think they are anyway!? And then THEY have the nerve to not understand why people get upset, boycott them, or call them to task on their attitudes!! They all need to get off the “pedestal” they have placed themselves on and join the “real world”!!

Well………..off to the races!! First, we have Nancy Pelosi doing the idiotic by supporting John (unethical) Murtha as House Majority Leader which, as we all know, bombed…and NOW we have Charlie Rangel attempting to ONCE AGAIN to bring back the draft!!

On 01/07/03 Congressman Rangel introducted H.R. 163 (Universal National Service Act of 2003), more popularly called “Reinstate Draft Bill” requiring:

….that all young persons in the United States, including women, perform a period of military service or a period of civilian service in furtherance of the national defense and homeland security, and for other purposes.

This bill got no where and a vote was taken to pass the bill which was rejected by 402-2. The only to “yes” votes were from John Murtha and Pete Stark. Charles Rangel, author of the bill, even voted “no”. This “bill” was the biggest waste as it was not even put forward to pass but to try and “prove a point” about the war and the President.

….It just seems to me as many times as the administration says that they are against a draft, all we hear on the Internet and around the country is that, after the election, they are going to have the draft.

If they are going to have the draft, I support this legislation, even though, quite frankly, I would have preferred that the bill be referred to the Committee on Armed Services, ……

Excerpt by Liberal Democrat, S.Jackson from Texas:

Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, well, I just want to echo the dean, and I want to congratulate the gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel) for his courage.

Frankly, let me say to my colleagues on the floor of the House, there is a secret plan for the draft. And there is nothing, there is nothing that this debate will do to dispense with that rule more and that secret plan. ………

Mr. Speaker, this debate is imperative to those who are listening. To the young people, I am voting no.

But this was a protest to say to the President and the administration in January of 2003 when this war was raging, what is your exit strategy? What is your strategy to win the peace? We have none. …..

Congress Joe Wilson of SC and a member of the Committee on Armed Services stated:

…the bill we are voting on today has been used by Democrats to scare young voters and their parents with the lie of an impending draft.

In South Carolina, the Democratic Party sent out a despicable campaign letter, disguised as a draft notice. The Democratic Presidential Candidate John Kerry speaks disingenuously about a “back door draft.” He has said to elect him President because he “will give us a foreign policy that absolutely makes it unnecessary to have a draft.” Democrats’ false rhetoric has helped fuel a nationwide scare campaign.

As a retired veteran of 31 years service in the Army National Guard, and with three sons today in the military, one of whom is serving in Iraq, I agree with the Newsweek magazine’s exposé (Oct. 12th) which discredited the rumors as having no basis in fact. Crying wolf about the need for a draft causes doubt about the ability of our Armed Forces, and hurts our morale and recruitment.

Let’s be clear.

The all-volunteer American military is succeeding in the War on Terror, and retention remains high. We have the best-trained, best-equipped, most competent military in history. We have a new greatest generation that I have visited three times in Iraq who are dedicated patriots protecting American families by taking the war to the terrorists.

There is absolutely no need for a draft. Not one person in the executive branch supports or has talked about reinstating the draft.

Clearly, by resorting to the politics of fear, KERRY and the Democrats have no positive agenda for America. Americans deserve more. …..

Other “interesting” snipets from the “debate” on this bill:

I am stunned by the fact that my friend from New York stands up in his beginning comments and sites the reason we have to deal with this is because the Internet is saying so,…..

……What our bill does is address the growing disparity in socio-economic background between those who go to fight our nation’s conflicts and those who send them. The statistics show that minorities and the working class segments of society constitute a disproportionate percentage of the military. …

…It is plain fact that the military does not come from the higher socio-economic status of society…..

….I say in all disappointment, an incredible insult to the men and women who wear the uniform. Why is it an insult? Because our men and women are the best, brightest, best trained, best equipped, most effective that the world has ever known. They are a tribute to the education process in this country and the ability of young people to stand up and serve their country. ….

Those who are in favor of this legislation declare the draft is necessary for two reasons. They argue that recruiting and retention of our armed forces are falling at alarming rates and they asset that the military is disproportionately comprised of poorly-educated individuals.

….This is one of the greatest insults to our military I have ever heard. Today our armed forces are the most professional, best educated, most integrated and best trained in the world. All one needs to do is spend a few moments with our troops. ….

I think everyone gets the jest of the proprosed 2003 bill! Does anyone else see that farce as totally disgusting?? You can also see how the DEMS also feel about our military!!!

And now, Charlie baby is wanting to bring this up again! Watch out though…the dems will now be in control of Congress and the Senate!!

His reasonings, in my opinion, have NOTHING to do with making America more secure but it his continued attempts as class warfare and the race card.

“There’s no question in my mind that this president and this administration would never have invaded Iraq, especially on the flimsy evidence that was presented to the Congress, if indeed we had a draft and members of Congress and the administration thought that their kids from their communities would be placed in harm’s way,” Rangel said.

…has said the all-volunteer military disproportionately puts the burden of war on minorities and lower-income families. AOL News

Mr. Rangel, first of all there is a Selective Service System in place which is a federal agency under the Military Selective Service Act. This Selective Service System was reinstated by Democratic President Jimmy Carter in the summer of 1980. The requirement is that all men between 18-25 register with the Selective Service and would be used as EMERGENCY manpower if called upon by Congress and the President in a case of a national emergency (let’s see….if your cut/run policy allows bombs to be dropped in the US, for example!)

Many of the Dems are attempting to get ROTC banned from schools and colleges, where our young people have a chance to learn discipline, pride in themselves and in their country!! In fact, ROTC has been banned from schools…where…oh yes..in San Francisco, the area of your soon to be speaker…Nancy Pelosi!!! And then YOU people have the nerve and the guts to say “reinstate the draft”!!! You people are totally unbelievable!!!

We have a WONDERFUL, every educated, determined, skilled and patriotic military made up of volunteers who WANT to serve our country, despite people like Rangel, Murtha, Pelosi, Kerry, etc!! They are from ALL walks of life and should be honored and respected for their desire and willingness to serve!! It angers and disgustes me that the “leaders” (which I put mildly) of our country seem to have so little regard for these brave men and women!!